Moby Dick

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Moby Dick

Released Jun 27, 1956

1h 56m

Adventure

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Popcornmeter

81%

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26 Reviews

73%

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5,000+ Ratings

Capt. Ahab (Gregory Peck) has a vendetta against Moby Dick, the great white whale responsible for taking his leg. He sets out on a treacherous sea voyage aboard The Pequod, along with a crew including Starbuck (Leo Genn), Father Mapple (James Robertson Justice) and Ishmael (Richard Basehart), to hunt down the elusive beast. With reckless abandon, Ahab leads the crew on his obsessive and suicidal quest, anxious for a final showdown with the legendary white whale.

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Critics Consensus

It may favor spectacle in place of the deeper themes in Herman Melville's novel, but John Huston's Moby Dick still makes for a grand movie adventure.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

One could have plenty of quarrels with this as an adaptation of the Herman Melville novel, but it's still one of the better John Huston films of the 50s.

Aug 5, 2011

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TIME Magazine

Moby Dick is certainly the most unusual picture of the year and may well be the best.

Aug 5, 2011

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Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

The film takes flight as a grand chase movie, and leaves its ambition in its wake.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 5, 2011

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Francois Truffaut

Arts (France)

Too often, John Huston offers us, instead of creatures made of flesh and blood, only colorless beings who come onto the screen to deliver one or two aphorisms before going out of focus.

Feb 14, 2024

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Director John Huston and screenwriter Ray Bradbury teamed up (and feuded aplenty) to wrestle Herman Melville’s literary classic Moby-Dick to the screen, with results both fascinating and flawed.

Rated: 3/4

May 9, 2023

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

…a neglected masterpiece…

Rated: 4/5

Dec 30, 2022

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Stephen C

Success in 1 hour and 56 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/15/25

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Michael C

So Awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/01/25

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Alec B

Ultimately a mixed bag. I like certain scenes and the cinematography. Peck was unfortunately too young for the part (not awful but he's clearly trying too hard) which is noticeably distracting.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/02/25

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Blu B

A Classic Adventure flick and the best film adaptation of the classic novel. Cinematogrpahy is excellent. The location, color, costumes are all really good with great direction by Huston. The classical golden era way this is done also really helps given this is a 1800's novel. Something that it feels like all other adaptations on film miss. The special effects are really clean too. Minitures, stock footage, on location effects are all so cleanly edited especially in the end too. The fact most of this is actually on a ship too in the ocean really brings this to life and gives something tangible that a lot of others miss with majority sound stage and green screen. Everything else is really good. Peck is phenominal in this. Easily one of his best performances of his career. If there is one area where this struggles slightly is once they are in pursuit it feels like chracter development moments in the novel are missing. It's there but you can tell the main focus is Peck and everything else is secondary. Given how large the novel is I don't know how'd you'd really fix that for a movie. The 98' mini series is better served for that and arguably better apples to oranges. It's pretty cool too how despite the english being old time I can still understand pretty much 90-95% of what there saying and where I can't the visuals on screen make up for it. It's a great tale and still delivers the message of revenge can destroy others around you as much as you. Anyone who is a fan of the novel, any actors in this, Huston, movies on ships, or adventures should check this out.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/18/25

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Janet V

Classic in every way!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/12/25

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Gurcharn B

Finest movie I’ve ever seen…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/25

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John Huston

Director

Gregory Peck

Captain Ahab

Richard Basehart

Ishmael

Leo Genn

Starbuck

James Robertson Justice

Captain Boomer

Harry Andrews

Stubb

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Synopsis

Capt. Ahab (Gregory Peck) has a vendetta against Moby Dick, the great white whale responsible for taking his leg. He sets out on a treacherous sea voyage aboard The Pequod, along with a crew including Starbuck (Leo Genn), Father Mapple (James Robertson Justice) and Ishmael (Richard Basehart), to hunt down the elusive beast. With reckless abandon, Ahab leads the crew on his obsessive and suicidal quest, anxious for a final showdown with the legendary white whale.

Director: John Huston
Producer: John Huston
Screenwriter: Herman Melville, Ray Bradbury, John Huston
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures, United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Warner Home Vídeo
Production Co: Moulin Productions Inc.
Genre: Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 27, 1956, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 13, 2017
Runtime: 1h 56m

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